Host of the Truthbringer
The Host of the Truthbringer is a Warband of Chaos Space Marines derived from the Word Bearers Legion. Originally known as the Ruin's Aeon Chapter, they are an organization that has been led by Azunar since the late Great Crusade. Each of them are dedicated absolutely to giving oneself over, body and soul, to the all-consuming powers of the Warp. They have been consumed by the ideal that the Materium is an illusion one must break free of, and so they crusade that all may share in their psychosis. Their sole desire is to see the Material realm so inundated with the raw stuff of the Warp that eventually matter and physics themselves completely cease to exist. To this end, they are crusaders and daemon-summoners supreme, and their unhinged fanaticism drives them from world to world on a tidal wave of mutation, madness and warp-spawned horror. History The Great Crusade The Astartes now known as the dreaded Host were once a Chapter known as the Ruin's Aeon, named after an ancient Colchisian prophecy of a age of doom, the End Times. This name was all too fitting, for the Ruin's Aeon drew it's recruits from the most fanatical and violent members of Colchis' civilization, and seemed more interested in burning worlds than building them. One of the first to be inducted into the newborn Chapter was a youth named Azun'Kar, He Who is Sought, who, through many battles, would come to be both First Chaplain and Captain of the Aeon's Second Company. Unknown to all, however, Azun'Karar was a psyker, and mentally ill. His sermons would always be of fire and brimstone, and reek of self-loathing and a desire to purify himself and others through violent acts of faith. After the burning of Monarchia, things would swiftly go downhill for the already violent Chapter. Azun'Karar swiftly earned a vision of the Dark Gods of Chaos and, even before the Pilgrimage had reached it's end, he already knew of the Dark Powers. Filled with a desire to purify himself in the Warp, he seeded cults throughout the fleet, and through them, detonated the Gellar Field Generators of every ship in the Crusade Fleet, while all of them were in Warp Transit. Instantly, the Ruin's Aeon vanished into the Immaterium, and were thus consumed by it. Horus Heresy When the Ruin's Aeon emerged, they were forever changed. Where once they numbered 1,000 Space Marines, they now numbered only 450, and those that were still alive had been driven irreparably insane. The mortal crews of those ships had horrifically melded with the Ships themselves, and those that did were either devoured by Daemons or transformed into Chaos Spawn. The Ruin's Aeon had forsaken it's original name, and taken on a new one. The Host of the Truthbringer, Disciples of Ruin, were born. Where they walked, death and destruction would follow, and those that did not die were brutally enslaved and exposed to the corrupting energies of the Warp. The Host was entirely merciless in their prosecution of war, cavorting and reveling in madness and terror. Even when they were defeated and driven back towards the Eye, they were unfazed, for they had earned a glimpse of the Face of Ruin, and they would march into self-destruction unafraid if need be. Through ancient daemonic pacts their leader and prophet, Azunar, earned the aid of the Forge of Souls when he designed a great Daemon Engine and mobile Fortress-Monastery: the Sanctified Desolation. ''This would serve as their mobile homeworld and base of operations, and would be the heart of their Crusade in the millennia to come. A Priesthood of Eschaton Coinciding with the end of the Horus Heresy was a reconstruction of the Chapter's ideology. The Apostle worked day and night to describe in fullest detail the truths he had experienced, for he had not merely journeyed into a Warp Rift and conversed with Daemons: the lack of a Gellar Field and their total absence from the Materium had afforded the Host a direct interfacing with the Warp itself, the physical bonds of their bodies and the ships around them, for a single blessed moment, ceasing to exist entirely. And in the face of such a seething well of contradictory voices, the Apostle beheld and temporarily fused with not a Pantheon, not a Sea of Souls, but an entity. A God: a timeless, interconnected intelligence that underlies all immaterial forces and operations, including - especially - the origin of all Souls. Azunar and his followers, in that single moment of complete negation, beheld the Primordial Creator in it's fullness, and saw a future where the whole of the Galaxy was drawn to it, and all Mankind entirely transcended material reality, becoming completely spiritual beings. To them was revealed a vision of Apotheosis. Utterly ecstatic at so universal a revelation, Azunar spent the time between the establishment of Sicarus as the Legion's homeworld and Abaddon's Thirteenth Black Crusade planning to bring his vision to the masses of humanity. For several centuries the Apostle worked tirelessly to write the Ruinous Testament, as a cornerstone to any Empyrealist movement. Several millennia later, as the 1st Black Crusade came to a close, The Dark Priesthood was established upon the daemonic Shrine World of Phrenesis within the Maelstrom. A collection of Cults, Mutant hordes, and traitor guardsman warbands assembled at Phrenesis, pledged themselves to the principles of Empyrealism and set out to continue a war against the Imperium of Man, using the Ruinous Testament as a guide to both ideology and organization. At Present The Host of the Truthbringer is ever more fanatical as time goes by. The worlds they conquer are transformed into depraved and maddened kingdoms, where the population is mercilessly drilled and molded into yet more madmen and terrorists to prosecute their war against all reason. The death of Cadia and the creation of the Great Rift plunged the Galaxy into a new age of insanity and Warp corruption, as space tore itself apart and thousands of worlds were lost to Daemons. The Host now fights harder than ever, for the End Times are here, and the time of Apotheosis is at hand. Organization The Host of the Truthbringer is divided into four Grand Companies, each lead by the Possessed Champions and attendants of the Prophet Azunar, named Khaane, Tezen, Slanat, and Narag. Each of the Champions is named a Ruinpriest, and leads their company to battle. The four companies are all worshipers of Chaos Undivided as taught by the Book of Lorgar, but each leans infinitesimally toward one God in particular. The four company leaders were also members of a fifth body within the Host, the Ruinous Circle, a clandestine cult at the Warband's heart composed of Aspiring Champions, Sorcerers and other powerful priests and demagogues. There are many lesser companies ruled by a champion and leader of their own, scattered among the host of murderers. The Sanctified Desolation The ''Sanctified Desolation ''is the Fortress Monastary and Flagship of the Host fleet. It is so daemon-infested and Warp-Infused a hulk that it's form is never fixed, each appearance a slight variation. The central structure of the fortress is referred to as the Grand Cathedral of the Primordial Annihilator, and is the largest and most imposing of the many shrines and monuments within the writhing starship. Within the fortress, countless seers and possessed babble incoherently in the language of the Warp, while scribes mindlessly scribble down their words and profane philosophers debate endlessly upon the meaning of those words. The Sanctified Desolation is the greatest edifice of the Warband, a weapon and fortress that brings terror and madness to whatever world it materializes over. (More to be added later) Warband Gene-Seed The Gene-Seed of the Abyssal Sons is that of the Word Bearers Legion, derived from the Primarch Lorgar. Though they are far more mutated than their brethren. Cult and Culture ''Main Article: Empyrealism Truth and Falsehood In their time imprisoned within the Warp, the Host came to a single, all-consuming realization: That the Materium is a paper-thin lie, a veil cast over all of our eyes, a mere shadow of the truth of the Warp. As such, the Host is especially interested in destroying the veil between Realspace and the Warp, and to alter the minds, souls and perceptions of Mortals to view existence the same way. Recruiting The Host of the Truthbringer did not have a specific homeworld for most of their history, instead drawing recruits from the worlds they conquer. In the Eye of Terror, Screaming Vortex, Maelstrom and many other Warp Rifts throughout the Galaxy, the Daemon Worlds conquered by the Host and their mortal allies have great fortress-cathedrals upon them, where enforcers and members of the Host keep watch over the Mortal population. The most mutated, and those identified as Psykers, are brought into the Warband, but only after passing the 8 Blood Trials, the 9 Tests of Change, the 7 Plagued Paths, and the 6 Tempting Trysts. Only after honoring each of the Ruinous Powers and making clear ones utter devotion to the will of the Warp, the mortal is given the Geneseed implementation and brought to the final trial in which their prophet, Azunar, commits a ritual called the 'Right of the Truthbringer', where the initiate has his eyes opened to the Primordial Truth, and he hears a short infinitesimal blurb of the Voice of Ruin. Ruin The center of the Host's worship is Ruin, the name they give to the Warp in it's entirety, although they claim the true nature of Chaos is unnamed, nameless, and unnameable. All Daemons, Gods, and other immaterial powers are but separate aspects and manifestations of the Primordial Annihilator, and thus they are dubbed 'Ruinous' Powers. They revere even Anthelion, as a 'Lucid Dream of Ruin' and an 'Angel of Primordial Annihilation.' Iconography The Host of the Truthbringer has the same iconography as the Bearers of the Word, save for some details. Their right paldron always bears the Latros Sacrum, but the left always bears an identical mutation: a yawning, serrated abyss, like a black mouth, burrowing through the paldron, through the Astartes' own body, down into unknown and unknowable realms. Combat Doctrine The Host commits to pre-battle prayer like the Legion they are part of. When in battle they usually use a frontal assault tactic, charging forward like the mad crusaders they are, although they have been known to adapt their strategy when needed. Notable Campaigns * [[Horror of Acrya|'Horror of Acrya']]:' Azunar and his followers brought three Shrine Worlds, known as the Acrya Triad, to ruin. The final fate of the three world is a grim one, as they were each transformed into planet sized ''lacking of Realspace, creating the Triad of Oblivion. * '''All Black Crusades: The Consecrated took part in all 13 Black Crusades of Warmaster Abaddon. Relics of the Warband The Helm of Oblivion The helm worn by the Dark Prophet Azunar, the Helm of Oblivion acts as a focal point for channeling daemonic powers and sorcery. The Ruinous Testament A Tome penned by Azunar, this book reflects his teachings and beliefs based on the far more sacred Book of Lorgar. It is filled with Azunar's own rituals and knowledge of the 4 Realms of Chaos, as well as deep knowledge of the Godhead, Ruin. The tome upon which they build their lives, second in holiness only to the Book of Lorgar itself. In addition, it gives a deep and detailed description on the nature of Gods, Daemons and the relationship of any and all Souls of this realm with Ruin, as well as the origin of the Materium. Relations (Feel free to add your own) Allies Enemies (Feel free to add your own) Twilight Shadows An Astartes chapter of Raven Guard lineage, the Twilight Shadows hate Lorgar and his sons even more than the Arch Traitor Horus, viewing Lorgar responsible for the corruption of the Traitor Legions. While the Twilight Shadows hold no specific hatred or grudge for the Host of the Truthbringer, they are still of Lorgar's blood and they enjoy interfering with their plans whenever possible. Most notably they have a curious tendency to kill Astartes of the Host in the same fashion that Corax once nearly killed Lorgar, via lightning claws through the chest. Quotes By About (Feel free to add your own) Category:Chaos Space Marines Category:Chaos Category:A.L.P.H.A The AI